Dared SL2000a Preamp

2

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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,029
    ....if only it had more inputs....

    'been bought the minute it hit the forum...Idgit. (me)

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,442
    treitz3 wrote: »
    ....if only it had more inputs....

    'been bought the minute it hit the forum...Idgit. (me)

    Tom

    Yep Tom concur
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,802
    edited August 2018
    Easy to add (line level) inputs with an outboard source selector :) Go cheap, 'spensive, new or used, or DIY.

    Just sayin'.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    After a very generous offer by Travis, I am going to grab a local Hafler P1000 from a buddy. I will be using this Dared pre for my desk, so I wanted a thin amp, and the Hafler fit the bill, plus it uses MOSFETs! It's only rated at 50w, but for a desk/office application with 2-way monitors and the tube pre, it should be great!

    Thanks again Travis!
    Jake
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  • trav0810
    trav0810 Posts: 1,056
    edited August 2018
    zingo wrote: »
    After a very generous offer by Travis, I am going to grab a local Hafler P1000 from a buddy. I will be using this Dared pre for my desk, so I wanted a thin amp, and the Hafler fit the bill, plus it uses MOSFETs! It's only rated at 50w, but for a desk/office application with 2-way monitors and the tube pre, it should be great!

    Thanks again Travis!

    The little Adcom 5002 I have is a 50w Mosfet as well. I had the chance to pick up something local, that is certainly what I would do as well. Why take the risk with the shipping services?
    The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” -Albert Einstein

    Sony Playstation 3 for CD and Streaming
    Thorens TD320
    Modified Carver C-1
    Carver TFM 42 and 45 Amplifiers
    Polk RTA15TL Speakers w/Decato mods
    White Lightning Moonshine DIY Speaker Cables and Interconnects
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  • trav0810
    trav0810 Posts: 1,056
    treitz3 wrote: »
    ....if only it had more inputs....

    'been bought the minute it hit the forum...Idgit. (me)

    Tom

    I generally only ever used to inputs myself. One for the DAC, and the other for a phono preamp.
    The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” -Albert Einstein

    Sony Playstation 3 for CD and Streaming
    Thorens TD320
    Modified Carver C-1
    Carver TFM 42 and 45 Amplifiers
    Polk RTA15TL Speakers w/Decato mods
    White Lightning Moonshine DIY Speaker Cables and Interconnects
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  • trav0810
    trav0810 Posts: 1,056
    Anyone here that wants to build a Dynaco ST-70?

    bad1ts61k82t.jpg
    The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” -Albert Einstein

    Sony Playstation 3 for CD and Streaming
    Thorens TD320
    Modified Carver C-1
    Carver TFM 42 and 45 Amplifiers
    Polk RTA15TL Speakers w/Decato mods
    White Lightning Moonshine DIY Speaker Cables and Interconnects
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    Sure, drop it off and I will have it built... just dont ever come back for it :wink:
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • trav0810
    trav0810 Posts: 1,056
    EndersShadow wrote: »
    Sure, drop it off and I will have it built... just dont ever come back for it :wink:

    that's even better. I will drop it off to you, exchange it for some American currency, and then never come back to pick it up!
    The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” -Albert Einstein

    Sony Playstation 3 for CD and Streaming
    Thorens TD320
    Modified Carver C-1
    Carver TFM 42 and 45 Amplifiers
    Polk RTA15TL Speakers w/Decato mods
    White Lightning Moonshine DIY Speaker Cables and Interconnects
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,802
    "only 50 watts"...

    ;)
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,442
    trav0810 wrote: »
    EndersShadow wrote: »
    Sure, drop it off and I will have it built... just dont ever come back for it :wink:

    that's even better. I will drop it off to you, exchange it for some American currency, and then never come back to pick it up!

    Got to get up pretty early to pull one over on Travis.
    Dan he likes sandwiches with olives he can be bribed
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  • trav0810
    trav0810 Posts: 1,056
    Muffaletta!!!
    The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” -Albert Einstein

    Sony Playstation 3 for CD and Streaming
    Thorens TD320
    Modified Carver C-1
    Carver TFM 42 and 45 Amplifiers
    Polk RTA15TL Speakers w/Decato mods
    White Lightning Moonshine DIY Speaker Cables and Interconnects
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    "only 50 watts"...

    ;)

    Only! :D
    Jake
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,442
    trav0810 wrote: »
    Muffaletta!!!

    You and lightboy should get together, he likes goats to :)
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  • trav0810
    trav0810 Posts: 1,056
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    trav0810 wrote: »
    Muffaletta!!!

    You and lightboy should get together, he likes goats to :)

    I must have scared him away. He came by a few weeks back, but he is avoided me ever since!
    The difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” -Albert Einstein

    Sony Playstation 3 for CD and Streaming
    Thorens TD320
    Modified Carver C-1
    Carver TFM 42 and 45 Amplifiers
    Polk RTA15TL Speakers w/Decato mods
    White Lightning Moonshine DIY Speaker Cables and Interconnects
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 25,442
    trav0810 wrote: »
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    trav0810 wrote: »
    Muffaletta!!!

    You and lightboy should get together, he likes goats to :)

    I must have scared him away. He came by a few weeks back, but he is avoided me ever since!

    Good times for sure
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    trav0810 wrote: »
    EndersShadow wrote: »
    Sure, drop it off and I will have it built... just dont ever come back for it :wink:

    that's even better. I will drop it off to you, exchange it for some American currency, and then never come back to pick it up!

    Thats what I said......

    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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  • mlistens03
    mlistens03 Posts: 2,767
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    "only 50 watts"...

    ;)

    That's quite a power house for your speakers...
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  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,788
    trav0810 wrote: »
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    trav0810 wrote: »
    Muffaletta!!!

    You and lightboy should get together, he likes goats to :)

    I must have scared him away. He came by a few weeks back, but he is avoided me ever since!

    I'm over in Dayton Ohio. I'll be back your way this weekend. Rock on Big Daddy!
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  • daboyz
    daboyz Posts: 5,207
    WagnerRC wrote: »
    daboyz wrote: »
    Thank God!! In my present position I can't buy anything but I've owned one on three or four (lol) different occasions. Like has been said, great piece for the money.

    Can't wait for the next one to come up for sale......

    ;)

    I have yours and another one sitting on the shelf here. I really never used the 2 bought here on polk. I moved onto the Joule stuff quickly after purchasing.

    Hey, Bob!
    You gotta get one of them out and give it a listen. No match for the Joule obviously but a fun little pre.


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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    I got the Dared in the mail last night and will hook it up today to my Hafler and my Monoprice K-BAS speakers. Thanks Travis as it looks like it arrived in good condition (haven't turned it on yet), but I'm excited to do some listening this weekend.

    Does anyone know the output voltage of this preamp?
    Jake
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  • codycatalist
    codycatalist Posts: 2,662
    Man what a nice piece for a great price. Tried to find one on the bay for the longest, may just go with a Bottlehead Quickie. Tried to do a quick search but couldn't find anything on the output voltage, can't say that I looked THAT hard though.
    Just a dude doing dude-ly things

    "Temptation is the manifestation of desire which equals necessity." - Mikey081057
    " I have always had a champange taste with a beer budget" - Rick88
    "Just because the thread is getting views don't mean much .. I like a good train wreck doesn't mean i want to be in one..." - pitdogg2
    "Those that don't know, don't know that they don't know." - heiney9
    "Audiophiles are the male equivalent of cat ladies." - Audiokarma Member
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    codycatalist wrote: »
    Man what a nice piece for a great price. Tried to find one on the bay for the longest, may just go with a Bottlehead Quickie. Tried to do a quick search but couldn't find anything on the output voltage, can't say that I looked THAT hard though.

    It does look like a really neat preamp.

    I'm interested in trying out some buffer/follower amp designs, and I heard this preamp has high gain, but was wondering exactly how much since those designs are no/low gain. I couldn't find any of the specs online either... :neutral:
    Jake
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    12AT7 is a high gain tube just slightly less than a 12AX7. You can use 5965, 6211 and the Raytheon 6414 3-mica bp sounds excellent.

    Yes, for some amps it is high gain piece. I had to use tube dampers on the long plate tubes I used. If you plan to keep it I'd also highly recommend these or something similar. It helped a lot with microphonics when using the longer plate 5965, 6211 and 6414 varieties.

    https://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PGPICO

    However, there are some stellar standard 12AT7/ECC81 tubes that don't have microphonics like the longer plate varieties. Not all long plate tubes exhibited microphonics, but they had more of a tendency to.

    H9

    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    iethnw5wfdgk.jpeg
    Jake
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  • Faustin
    Faustin Posts: 1,149
    I really liked my little Dared pre. It was my first step into the tube rabbit hole. Enjoy.
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  • Faustin
    Faustin Posts: 1,149
    codycatalist

    "Man what a nice piece for a great price. Tried to find one on the bay for the longest, may just go with a Bottlehead Quickie. Tried to do a quick search but couldn't find anything on the output voltage, can't say that I looked THAT hard though."

    The Bottlehead Quickie is fun way to enter in to the DYI tube arena. Reasonably priced. The instructions are top notch. It is battery powered so you don't electricute yourself if you f**k up. And, yes I did screw up when I went into upgrade mode. The nice thing is that it is a really nice sounding pre. Punches way above it's price point.
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  • thejazzmarauder
    thejazzmarauder Posts: 16
    zingo wrote: »
    iethnw5wfdgk.jpeg
    I am pretty sure I just bought this exact preamp from you. Happened to stumble across this thread...
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  • thejazzmarauder
    thejazzmarauder Posts: 16
    george daniel wrote: »
    I remember that mod,, one of the toughest that I have ever done,, but it brought it to a different level,, for the money,, this is a no brainer,,good luck with the sale,, bet it’s gone before the sunset!
    Looks like I now own this, so I’ll need to read through your original upgrade thread closely. Was the extent of the upgrade the 6 caps?
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  • thejazzmarauder
    thejazzmarauder Posts: 16
    DSkip wrote: »
    Welcome to the forum jazz! I hope you are able to stick around - there’s a lot of good experience here, especially with that Dared.
    Thanks, Skip. Lots to learn as this is the first tube amp I’ve actually owned.

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